Matty Pearson will be a 'big miss' for Huddersfield Town, but Carlos Corberan reveals a spot of hope

Pearson, enjoying an 'excellent season' according to Corberan, injured his knee in training earlier this week as Town started preparations for Monday's home match with one of his former clubs in Luton Town, who are riding high in the Championship top six with Huddersfield.

The timescale to return from the particular knee problem that Pearson has is around six to eight weeks, but Corberan - mindful that the Terriers, if all goes well, will extend their season into the play-offs, is keeping his fingers crossed that the former Barnsley and FC Halifax centre-half can return ahead of schedule.

On Pearson, who does not require surgery, Corberan said: "Unfortunately, we have one important injury with Matty Pearson. In the first day of training (this week), he had a tackle and in this tackle, he moved his knee and started to have some problems.

"For another player, I would tell you that he would miss all the (rest of the) season we are going to play. But for Matty, he creates a question mark as he is someone who can reduce the time to make a full recovery with his level of character and determination to do it.

"Other players would need six to eight weeks. Let's see how many weeks it is to fix Matty's problem in the knee.

"His treatment, for a normal player, needs six to eight weeks. But for someone who is a competitive animal (like Pearson), I don't know how long it is going to take.

"I understand he is totally frustrated because any player, when they have any type of injury, feels upset and frustrated because the player wants to be fit and helping the team.

"Matty has been one player who has been excellent in helping the team. I cannot tell you he is not a big miss because he is a big miss and deserves to be. For me, he has had an excellent season."

Meanwhile, Corberan says that experienced midfielder Alex Vallejo (knee) is around three to four weeks away from returning to some level of training and admits it is unlikely that he will be available again before season's end.

He continued: "He's working on the pitch with the medical staff now and I think in the next 3-4 weeks he can be part of some football training with the team, so I think it's unlikely we'll see him again this season."